


Glad I Have You

by DenDragon14



Series: Dysfunctional Newsies [10]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Albert DaSilva, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Meltdown, Modern Era, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29147004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenDragon14/pseuds/DenDragon14
Summary: Elmer arrives home to find their condo in shambles and finds Albert on the floor of his room, coming down from a meltdown. Being the good roommate/ friend that he is, Elmer comforts Albert as best as possible.
Relationships: Albert DaSilva & Elmer (Newsies)
Series: Dysfunctional Newsies [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608244
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Glad I Have You

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my Google Docs for awhile. So here it is, finally finished. Sorry if there are any typos or other minor errors; this was literally almost finished so I wrote the few sentences it needed and tweaked the spelling and spacing but didn't read over very carefully.
> 
> NOTE--PLEASE READ: I'll just make it aware that I am NOT on the spectrum and I am not close with many people who are. I went off of what I've read online and what I've learned from individuals I've met in life. And although I've looked it up and read and re-read things, I still don't know if I've sorted out all the terminology correctly. There is NO offense intended at all in this and I apologize if it comes off as offensive in anyway. If you see inaccuracies, please let me know for future purposes.  
> Thanks!

**Glad I Have You**  
  
When Elmer arrived home that afternoon, he entered and saw books scattered across the floor, knocked clear off one of the shelves of the bookshelf that sat in the corner. The blinds were drawn shut, haphazardly, closed improperly and now rested at odd angles. The further he went into the house, the more chaos he found throughout it. He came to a halt outside Albert’s room. The door was open, the lights off but from the sunlight that came in through a crack in the blinds, Elmer could see his roommate and friend huddled up against his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest.  
  
“Albie?” The huddled up ball on the floor moved ever so slightly but remained silent. Elmer edged his hand toward the light switch and when he heard nor saw any sign of protest, he flicked on the lights. As light flooded the room he saw that his roommate’s room was even in more disarray than normal. His eyes travelled over to Albert and took in his disheveled hair and long, red scratch marks that ran the length of his arms. Clearly it had been a bad day for his friend; he didn’t need to ask because he knew a bad day when he saw it. Albert had been doing quite well for awhile, but Elmer was aware that things could build up overtime before his friend just exploded, or sometimes imploded.  
  
“Can I hug you?” Elmer had quickly come to learn that Albert liked pressure when the right amount was applied, it was something that helped calm down and ground himself.  
Albert nodded furiously and uncurled from his huddled position on the floor. He opened his arms wide, waiting. Elmer got onto his knees and embraced his friend tightly, trying his best to apply the right amount of pressure to his friend's body.  
  
He wasn’t an expert when it came to autism, but he tried his best when it came to Albert. They were the best of friends but some people often mistook them as a couple. They had just grown very comfortable with one another over the past few years of rooming with one another. Their interests were somewhat similar and they both had rather brighter dispositions, although Elmer was genuinely a sunnier person while Albert, although a bright disposition was often very sarcastic and the sarcasm often came off in a rather pessimistic manner.   
  
He freed himself from Albert's arms and found the weighted blanket that Albert kept stashed underneath his bed and draped it over his friend’s lap and then moved and positioned himself between the bed and Albert so that Albert’s back was up against his chest.  
  
“You know what caused all this?” Elmer asked. He wasn’t a professional, but he knew well enough that something had broken the camel’s back to overwhelm Albert. He wasn’t sure whether it was something that had happened that day or if it was something that had been building overtime. Either way, Elmer needed to know to know if he could do something to help alleviate any future problems. Albert shrugged. His fingers traced the red marks that his scratching had left behind. Elmer grabbed his hands and clasped them tightly in his own, bringing them up so they rested against Albert’s chest.  
  
After a moment, he muttered. “Group presentation.” Social situations could be very overstimulating to him, especially if they were with people that he didn’t know too well. Elmer had learned that the hard way when they’d attended a party last year and all the sight, sound and smells had overstimulated Albert and the host of the part had thrown him out for being a “weird psycho”. Since then, they only went to gatherings where they both knew the majority of the people and all those people were well aware that Albert was on the spectrum; he wasn’t the only one in their friend group that was so there were others that could relate to his problems. Albert leaned back against Elmer and Elmer rested his head on Albert’s shoulder.  
  
Generally, Albert wasn’t too fond of touch unless it had the right amount of pressure applied, but the gentle gesture seemed to go unnoticed as his friend stared at the wall. For what seemed like a good twenty minutes or so, the two of them sat there in the room, back to chest, the weighted blanket draped over their legs Elmer honestly enjoyed quiet moments like this, where he could sit in the company of his friend and simply just be comfortable next to one another.  
  
After a long moment of comfortable silence, Albert broke it as he asked, “Did I break anything important?” His voice was quiet, monotone, but Elmer knew he the question was more than likely genuine. The last time Albert had a meltdown, he’d ended up breaking a special figurine that Elmer had been gifted by his grandmother before she passed. Albert knew Elmer was particularly sentimental about it and had profusely apologized about shattering it and even tried to help Elmer find a replacement and pay for it. Elmer thought back to the mess he’d seen in the living room and hall and tried to recall if anything of sentimental value had been broken or damaged. He squeezed Albert’s hands reassuringly and nuzzled his chin into Albert’s shoulder.  
  
“I don’t think so. ‘Sides, it’s just stuff anyway, it can be replaced.” Elmer squeezed his hands again. “You can’t be replaced.” Albert hummed, the sound vibrating in his chest that left Elmer’s hands feeling tingly at the vibration.  
  
“I’m glad I have you, Elmie.” He leaned his head so it rested against Elmer’s. The touch was fleeting before he straightened his head again, his gaze fixated on his hands, which Elmer still had tightly gripped in his own. Elmer smiled.  
  
“I’m glad I have you too, Albie.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this little one shot! I have a lot of WIPs at the moment, so I've been wanting to pump them out in a timely manner (at least, a timely manner for me). If you have any feedback or constructive criticism, feel free to leave a comment, or kudos; it is all appreciated!
> 
> Oh, and I have a tumblr now. Come check it out @ raving-raven-writing. I post basically whatever I want on there, but a lot of it is around fanfiction or television shows/movies.  
> https://raving-raven-writing.tumblr.com/


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